It is looking like Marco Rubio V. Charlie Crist in a battle for the direction of the Republican Party. This race would attract considerable national attention with Crist, representing a new, moderate path for Republicans going against a conservative, ideological foe. Rubio is a huge underdog, but I wouldn’t quite write him off as a dead dog. His fate depends in large part on whether his mentor, Jeb Bush, intervenes in the race on his behalf. That would make this the political story of the year with a former Republican governor turning against a sitting Republican governor. And Bush never has injected himself in Republican primaries. But it’s not impossible. Bush has no love for Crist, and has preached against the evils of Republicans turning to a ‘Democrat Lite’’ strategy to get elected. Crist is the poster child for Democratic Lite. In fact, I’m hard pressed to find much positive Bush has said about Crist since Crist was elected. Bush sent a strong message he’s back in politics by joining with Mitt Romney and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor earlier this week on a “listening tour’’ to rebrand the Republican party. Rubio certainly would fit in with this group. Crist would not. One might argue that if Bush feels strongly enough about the direction of the party, he should put some skin in the game and publicly back Rubio. That would open a lot of donor doors and redefine Rubio’s chances from none to slim. If Rubio showed a spark of life here, it actually could open up a floodgate of disgruntled conservatives, unhappy with Crist’s direction. Crist has to be concerned. We’ll be able to tell by how quickly he jumps in the race to lock up donors and nip Rubio in the bud.

Comments

I AS A REPUBLICAN,WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT GOV.CRIST DID, HUGGING AND KISSING OBAMA AND TAKING ALL THAT STIMULOS MONEY ON TV.ALL I GOT TO SAY IS… WE ARE GONNA FOLLOW GOV.CRIST ALL THE WAY TO THE BALLOT BOX AND VOTE IS LIB A_ _ OUT!!!”GO MARCO GO!”

Best thing for the state is to get Charlie out of the Gov’s mansion and into the more academic setting of the Senate. He’s made a terrible insurance situation even worse., same w/property taxes, and more gambling….just what we need!

Bob Gabordi at Tallahassee Democrat (the paper, not the party!) says Rubio has a very active Facebook page and returns messages himself. He is also on Twitter. Rubio has learned from the Obama playbook, so don’t assume anything about him. Nobody knew who Obama was, either.

Is it Florida’s educational system or merely that you are brain dead that elicits such a stupid comment from you? You don’t seem to like Obama. Did you actually like Bush, the worst president in US history? Have you apologized for what the Republicans did to this country? I love this country and its freedom, but it obviously comes with a price. The price in this case is having completely ignorant people such as yourself thinking that you actually have an opinion worth hearing. Let me clue you in. You don’t.